Stock Market Waiting for Jerome Powell’s Final Fed Speech Friday
The stock market may move a bit upward this morning ahead of the Fed meeting but it has trended down all week.
Quick overview
- Stock futures in the U.S. are expected to rise slightly ahead of Jerome Powell's final speech as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
- Powell will address the economic environment and inflation, which was last reported at 2.7%, along with potential interest rate cuts.
- This week marks the first decline for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite after a month of record highs, primarily due to rising consumer goods prices and tariff concerns.
- The Nasdaq Composite has lost about 500 points this week, while the S&P 500 is down approximately 70 points, with tech stocks facing significant losses.
Stock futures in the United States are expected to tick upward slightly today ahead of Jerome Powell’s important final speed as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Powell will be speaking Friday about the economic environment including the state of inflation, which was at 2.7% at the last reading. Powell will be likely to speak on any upcoming interest rate cuts as well, just three weeks out from the next rate setting meeting for the Fed.
This will be a key meeting for the stock market, as investors are waiting to see what decision the Fed will make about interest rate cuts and hear what they have to say about the state of the economy. Those comments on Friday will determine how much buying or selling pressure there is on the stock market heading into the weekend.
A Week of Losses
This week marks the first time in more than a month that the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended more sessions down than up. Those two indices have been setting record highs for much of the summer, but this week has seen them both decline significantly.
The stock market has dipped mainly due to rising consumer goods prices and new tariff fears. President Donald Trump had set a deadline for when his new tariffs would go into effect for numerous countries, and many of those countries let that deadline expire without reaching out and starting negotiations. Consumers expect to pay higher prices for a while on imported goods, while businesses anticipate slower sales and more fees for exported goods while these tariffs are in effect.
The Nasdaq Composite trended down as Thursday trading closed off, losing 0.34% and adding to its week of decline. The index has lost about 500 points since the start of the week.
The S&P 500 is down 0.40% now ahead of the stock market opening, and this index has lost about 70 points this week. Tech stocks have really suffered this week, with unexpected losses for Nvidia, Apple, and many others that have done very well in previous weeks over the summer.
The Dow Jones is also down, losing 0.34% on Thursday but only about 160 points for the week. That is less percentage loss for the week compared to the other two indices, leaving the Dow Jones in a slightly better state than the Nasdaq and S&P 500 as the week comes to a close.
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